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http://www.itvt.com/story/6747/comcast-increases-vod-movie-line-over-450

Comcast wants to sell content, not just access. That way they get it both ways: fees from their customers and they don't have to pay for GBs transferred via other company's wire. Netfix is their competitor, so why not make it hard for them to do business. Slowing down their traffic works too.

I just read this article in Interactive TV Today [itvt] (http://blog.itvt.com./ Looks like WiMAX will eventually be used to enable satellite TV companies to offer VOD, two-way interactive TV and voice and broadband data services--all of which until now have been big differentiators for cable. WiNetworks Unveils WiMAX-Based Solution for Two-Way Satellite Broadband --Says it will Allow Satellite Operators to Offer VOD, Triple-Play Services At the IBC show in Amsterdam last week, a London-based company called WiNetworks demo'd a WiMAX-based solution designed to provide satellite TV providers with a two-way broadband network over which they can offer triple-play services, including not only voice and data, but VOD and other two-way interactive TV applications (note: the solution could also be used to enable local ad insertion). The solution, which enables an always-on return path, is based on the company's patented "Hybrid WiMAX DVB" (HWDV) technology, which it says allows satellite operators to leverage their existing customer premises infrastructure (dish, set-top box, coax wiring, etc.) to deploy a WiMAX broadband wireless network at very low cost. WiNetworks says that it is the first company to use the new WiMAX protocol (IEEE 802.16 d/e) to deliver a solution uniquely designed for the DBS industry (note: WiMAX is a new broadband wireless standard backed by around 300 telecom technology and service providers). "The DBS carriers have recognized the need to expand beyond their existing satellite infrastructure in order to deliver broadband triple-play services," WiNetworks CEO, Effi Atad, said in a prepared statement. "Our innovative solution will do for DBS what HFC did for cable, and will make DBS operators the third and most effective broadband access channel to the home. Over time WiMAX' ability to deliver fully integrated fixed and mobile connectivity services will provide DBS carriers with an advantage over CATV and Telcos." According to WiNetworks, the new solution would enable satellite customers to order a VOD movie from a typical DVB set-top: the customer's request would be transmitted in real time to the DBS provider's regional VOD server over the always-on return path enabled by the WiMAX network. IP video content would then be delivered through the WiMAX connection, and the HWDV technology would then convert it into the DVB format and deliver it to the set-top for viewing by the customer. To ensure the quality of the video, an embedded QoS algorithm assigns higher priority to the video content over WiMAX-delivered data services. WiNetworks' IBC demo also showcased the integration of the new HWDV solution with NDS's VideoGuard conditional access technology: the latter was seen securing both DVB streams delivered through a satellite infrastructure and IP streams delivered through a WiMAX infrastructure. "The integrated vision of broadcast and IP has a strong value proposition for satellite operators," NDS's VP of product marketing, Gadi Tirosh, said in a prepared statement. "WiMAX technology in many ways complements the satellite broadcast and poses potential for both underserved areas and growth into mobile services with the introduction of the 802.16/e WiMAX standard. The NDS and WiNetworks solution also solves many of the challenges related to WiMAX VOD, building on the intrinsic physical infrastructure of the satellite operator."

• TiVo's technology-licensing business seems to be becoming an increasingly important element of the company's overall strategy. It announced that Korean consumer-electronics manufacturer, Humax, which is seeking to establish a foothold for itself in the US, will later this year unveil 2 TiVo- powered DVD recorders for the US market (the devices, which will offer home-networking capabilities, progressive scan output, and DV input, are scheduled to be available in retail by the fall), as well as 2 new TiVo Series2 DVR's, featuring 80 hours and 250 hours of storage respectively (these are scheduled to be available in retail at the beginning of the 2nd quarter). TiVo also revealed that it has extended its existing licensing agreement with Toshiba, which plans to launch a number of new TiVo- powered devices later this year, including a DVD recorder that is expected to be available in the fall: last year, Toshiba introduced a TiVo-powered product, the SD-H400, which combines a DVD player with a DVR, and which offers around 80 hours of storage. (Note: Pioneer also has a licensing agreement in place with TiVo, and last year introduced 2 DVD recorder/VCR hybrid products, the DVR-810H and the Elite DVR-57H.) In addition, TiVo said that Hughes, Philips, RCA and Samsung will this year all offer products which combine satellite receivers with TiVo-powered DVR's, and which are designed to support the "DirecTV with TiVo" service offered by satellite-TV provider, DirecTV. (Note: the "DirecTV with TiVo" service is becoming increasingly important to TiVo's bottom line: in its most recent fiscal quarter, TiVo added 150,000 net new subscriptions through DirecTV--representing growth of nearly 100% over the previous quarter and nearly 10 times the number of DirecTV with TiVo subscriptions added during the year-ago quarter--compared to only 59,000 net new stand-alone TiVo service subscriptions.)
• It showcased a new product of its own that is targeted at "DirecTV with TiVo" customers, and that combines an HD satellite receiver with an HDTV DVR. The new product, which is called simply the "DirecTV HD DVR," will be commercially available during the current quarter. It features 4 tuners, and can automatically detect whether an incoming signal is satellite- based or off-air, and then engage the appropriate tuner for recording.
• It said that it plans to launch a mobile version of its service next fall, dubbed "TiVoToGo." Among other things, the new service will allow TiVo subscribers who have purchased the company's "Home Media Option" (note: the TiVo Home Media Option, which was unveiled at the 2003 Consumer Electronics Show, is designed to transform the company's Series2 box into an "entertainment center." Among other things, it allows consumers to
  1. use their TiVo remote control to stream video, music and photos stored on their PC directly to their TV,
  2. schedule recordings on their DVR remotely via the Internet, and
  3. access a library of digital content which TiVo is able to offer its subscribers through various partnerships) to transfer programs stored on their DVR's hard drive to any PC or laptop: if their computer is equipped with a DVD burner, they will then also be able to transfer those programs to DVD.

• According to TiVo, TiVoToGo will be made possible by a "TiVo Content Security Key" (a small piece of hardware which viewers must plug into their PC whenever they are watching or recording TiVo content) and by TiVo-enabled versions of the MyDVD and CinePlayer applications from DVD-creation-software specialist, Sonic Solutions: the Sonic Solutions apps, which will be installed on the customer's computer, are designed not only to allow recorded programs to be played back on a computer or burned to a D

> I don't know what went on with the teletext thing you mention ...

This is probably the BBC removing the teletext data on all BBC TV channels inserted into the uplink feed to BSkyB sometime last year, which most people in Europe can receive. Traditional Teletext (the Ceefax service) is now only available via analogue terrestrial broadcast - digital terrestrial, cable and satellite BBC channels now carry the BBCi interactive TV service, which used to look like this and this, but now looks like this.

> [Interactive TV] just is never going to happen.

Maybe iTV is never going to happen in the States, but just as with cellphones, DAB and many technologies that gain momentum through standards and cross-border co-operation , the US is being left behind, as Interactive TV is thriving in Europe, especially in the UK, and I'm amazed that many tech-savvy Americans don't seem to realise this

~45-50% of UK households *with a TV* have digital TV, and of them 65 percent of have access to ITV

In simple numbers ,that's about 8 million households have Interactive TV in the UK. As a comparison, there are about 10 million Uk households with access to the Net.

There are about 6.25 million households with digital satelite alone. All of them have access to very, very advanced interactive services. There are about 2 million households with digital cable, using Liberate middleware

The new Free to air DTT boxes are selling like hot cakes, and there are many Interactive services available through the BBC and others

Here's a wide range of iTV screenshots

In europe as a whole 'interactive TV was estimated to be available in 31 million European households at the end of 2002, creating a potential audience of 72 million viewers'

OFDM was invented by Bell Labs in 1965... my reference for this is here and (better) here. According to the 2nd article, the C of COFDM was indeed done by a French lab, which would lead to the moronic NIH syndrome.

While we're at it, here's another article that talks about some of the differences between 8VSB and COFDM, and even points at some advantages to 8VSB.

To venture back off-topic - yes, the US telecomm market is rapidly headed back toward a monopoly. Except this time it won't be regulated like AT&T was. The rest of the US free market is doing pretty well though :)

Back ontopic - what's interesting is that Digital TV's are selling pretty well in the US. What isn't selling well are the set top decoders to receive digital broadcasts. People are buying the TVs and then hooking up DVD players to get a superior picture. And since most of the large screen TVs have built in de-interlacing, you even get an improved NTSC picture.

Why aren't the boxes selling? Partly the 8VSB issue and the cable issue (nobody is going to stick up a big ass antenna on their roof nowadays), partly the lack of broadcasting by the major networks, and partly (a very small part) due to some of the more informed people knowing that anything bought today may not be compatible in 2-3 years -- since the studios and the manufacturers are still hashing out connection standards it's possible that any DTV you buy today may wind up being reduced to NTSC-quality reception in the future because it doesn't have the right connectors on it. Fun fun fun.

For me, the last bit is the one and only reason I don't have a digital TV now. I have $5k earmarked toward one (and I'm hoping to spend much less than that). But I'm not going to buy one to have it rendered nearly useless by idiotic studio mavens.